A Soul To Recon With
by MasterOfRiddles
Summary: Yoh, Manta, Horohoro, and Ren decide to take a little walk out on Halloween night. But what’ll happen when they stumble upon a nightmare town, a place where they can’t escape? A little RenXHoro! Silent Hill crosses over with Shaman King! Chapter 3 Up!
1. My Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own, in any way, Shaman King. Shaman King is owned by Hiroyuki Takei. This is only my second full fan fiction. I will not be using any OC's in this one, not until I get my "Mary Sue" problem sorted out.**

**Summary: Yoh, Manta, Horohoro, and Ren decide to take a little walk out on Halloween night. But what'll happen when they stumble upon a nightmare town, a place where they can't escape? (A little RenXHoro!) Silent Hill crosses over with Shaman King! Please read and review, thank you.**

**Chapter 1**

'_Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house…Not a creature was stirring, not even a-_

Manta quickly pressed the legible button labeled "stop" on the karaoke machine Anna had just bought not too long ago. Not only did it have fun karaoke games, but it also played regular CDs and cassettes that one could listen to. As the boy's finger pressed the button hard, he dropped beside his taller friend, legs crossed. He crossed his arms with irritancy, his eyebrow quirked in question at him. "You know it's Halloween, right? And _not_ Christmas?" As usual, Manta tried to keep his cool. But he jumped to his feet, rage flailing like the flames of fire that danced playfully. Of course, it was natural for him to yell at Yoh; it was his default setting. "Are you crazy?!? Where did you get that silly tape, anyway? It's even in English! Yoh, what's wrong with you?" This was followed by a stamp of the foot.

The brunette, with the headphones set around his neck (and for once not on his head), chuckled lightly, with a big goofy grin. "Relax, Manta, I was just rummaging through the stuff in the attic and I merely stumbled across it. I put it in and just recently started listening to it. I had _no_ idea whatsoever that was on it. So, chill!" His answer to his friend's unnecessary questions and freak-out session was followed by a shrug and a full laugh; the same laugh this boy would give if he were amused, or just trying to push something or other away, some sort of unwanted feeling.

"Yeah, well…" was the only response the shorter boy could give him. Shrugging too, with a sharp sigh, he sat beside him again, ignoring the urge to smack away Yoh's hand as he reached for the "play" button. He merely placed his hands over his ears and gave a sheepish laugh, sweat dripping from the side of his face.

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One by one, the lights began to flicker on with the touch of a light switch. The desolate, eerie glow had faded away as light had defeated the darkness within the room. Voices could be heard as two people walked down the hallways of the home, footsteps echoing louder with each movement. The front doors to the apartment swung open simultaneously, and standing in the doorway were the Taos Jun and Ren, dressed in their evening affair clothing.

"That was just bland and stupid," Ren mused, his thumb crossing his nose. Slowly sliding the black coat from his shoulders, he took a seat in front of the wide, flat screen television. "It disappoints me that I believed you when you said that was going to be a good movie. What nonsense! I'm never taking your advice when it comes to seeing a new movie." His hand felt around the sofa, his fingers crossing things he didn't even want to know what they were. Finally reaching a long, slender surface with pressable buttons, the television was turned on and he leaned himself against the sofa, the arm with the remote resting upon the rim.

His sister couldn't help but smile. _At least he was able to go out and enjoy himself. _Jun's thought of her brother being able to function properly outside of home delighted her.

Smoothing out the rough surface before she sat down next to her little brother, she took her seat squarely and crossed her arms and legs. She didn't really care what had been displayed on the television, for all she wanted was to see Ren happy. The glare of it reflected off of everything as Ren dimmed down the lights, retaking his seat next to Jun. Their eyes had met for a split second, and she could have sworn he smiled softly at her. _She could have sworn._ That was the first time in ages her brother had ever given the slightest bit of kindness. It wasn't usually in his character. She giggled under her breath.

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"P-Pirika… Mercy! MERCY!" Horohoro twitched and turned upon the bed of their apartment, twisted with laughter as his younger sister continuously torture-err-tickled him relentlessly. "S-stop it! STOP! I can't take it anymore." Tears of laughter began to trickle down his face, as his arms were crossed over his stomach defensively.

"Uh-uh, not until you give me back the chocolate rabbit you stole from me!" she replied with an evil grin set on her face. Her fingers jingled all over his body, from his stomach to his feet. She even dared to go underneath his arms.

"GAH!" He gently pushed her aside, still laughing slightly and trying to catch his breath. "Alright, alright. I hid it in my drawer," he said, giving up all together and setting himself up.

Pirika's face became distorted with fear and disgust. "Oh, no. Not in your… _underwear drawer!_"

"Pffft…" The boy suddenly fell over again, laughing even harder then when his sister had a hold on him. "Wh-whoa!" Before he could regain stableness, his body had tumbled over the bed and hit the floor. Still laughing with a tinge of pain, Horohoro gently caressed the back of his head. "No, Pirika, I was joking. It's over there by the lamp." The hand that wasn't uncomfortably pressed against a swelled body part pointed directly to the half-eaten chocolate bunny next to his bed. He had dared himself to show her, for he knew she would become undoubtedly angry that he had eaten the rabbit without her permission. He took in a deep breath, held it, then let it out when she only gave him a pat on the head and continued to eat the rest of the chocolate delight.

It took him a few moments to recuperate, sighing with relief that his little sister didn't horrendously "punish" him for what he had done. It was just a stupid chocolate rabbit anyway… right? Horohoro pondered that question, and as he reached the answer, he began to feel more afraid. He knew that if someone tried to get in between a woman and her chocolate time, they would pay dearly. They wouldn't live to see the next day!

He shook off the thought of his sister eating him alive and chuckled somewhat, still rubbing the back of his head and giving the swelling pain comfort.

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_Ten minutes till midnight,_ Manta thought, leaning back against the table in Yoh's living room, facing the television. The screen had remained black, with no pictures being displayed. In other words, the television wasn't on. How dull, even though nothing was really on, anyway. He sighed ruefully, wondering where Yoh had gone to for the past half hour. He shrugged it off, not really giving a care. Tonight was a time for him to relax. After all, it was Hollow's Eve, the night before Halloween. Tomorrow was going to be a huge burden on his shoulder: tons of candy to give out (_especially_ to Yoh), friends to run around with, little kids to terrorize and torture. All in a day's work, he said to himself. All of a sudden, the lights of the entire establishment began to flicker out. As the short boy pushed himself to his feet, they completely darkened. The room was pitch-black, with nothing visible. _All I have to do is close my eyes for a couple of seconds,_ Manta reassured himself, and that's just what he did. To his delight and overall correctness, his night vision became slightly better, everything in a vision of black and melancholy gray. "Oh n-n-no…" he shuddered, as the door to the En Inn began to slowly slide open, it's hinges creaking horribly, the door getting wider and wider, and then he saw it: a shadow of someone standing in the doorway. He screamed to the top of his lungs, dashed across the living room, and slid underneath the table, his hands over his head and his body quaking.

Then, he heard a dreadful sigh. That…bastard! It was Yoh, standing in the doorway with grocery bags, his fiancée right behind him. "Whoa, it looks like the power went out," he said, rubbing the back of his head as he walked into the room.

"Hmph. I'm not surprised, what with this inn being haunted and old, and all that good stuff." Anna moved some blonde hair out of her eyes as she set the bags down next to the table where Manta was still hiding. "You can come out now, Shorty. No monsters here."

"O-okay," he responded feverishly, slowly crawling away from the protection of the table. "You guys scared the heck out of me!" He looked from Yoh to Anna, Anna to Yoh, and then his eyes stumbled upon the grocery bags that were resting next to him. A vein popped. "You guys went shopping at 11 o'clock at night? What the heck!" His fists angrily pounded roughly into the ground, everything flying into the air for a split second, then landing harshly back in place. "And you also scared the living daylights out of me, what with the electricity going out and then you just popping up out of the darkness!" Manta's voice became very shrill. That is, until Anna had smacked some sense into him.

"Calm down and breathe, 'Creampuff.' It was just us," Anna replied to all of this, picking up the distorted groceries and heading into the kitchen with her fiancée.

The smaller boy sat in the corner, his palm pressed against the hand print Anna had left upon his face, cursing her thoroughly with every intention meaningful.

That night the inn was silent and peaceful, and Manta had taken the liberty of sucking up his fear of the ghosts that had lived among Anna and Yoh to spend the night with his friend. And of course, they shared the same room, let alone the same bed. As usual Yoh was snoring ever so loudly with one of his legs outstretched overtop of his smaller friend, and the other's arms wrapped around it, snoring almost just as loud (he was too small to snore as loud as Yoh… it's amazing how the poor guy could get to sleep). Each of them would mumble something from within their dreams every now and then, their bodies scooting closer, subconsciously seeking heat.

"Mm…" Manta had then felt a warm embracing arm wrap around his body, just one. His head nuzzled deeply towards the presence that held him close, feeling Yoh's hot, comforting breath beat against his forehead. He was mutually comfortable, nudging his body against his friend's.

**Chapter 1 Finished! Hoped you like, please RandR! More coming soon, promise!**


	2. Addiction For Affection

**Chapter 2: Addiction For Affection **

Horohoro, who was wound up within his scarlet-colored sheets, could feel the gentle rays of the morning sun cradling his exposed back. His shirt was wadded up against his neck, from all the tossing and turning he had done throughout the cold, bitter night, waking every five minutes as if to find something crawling below him. Ignoring the infernal rays that had touched his skin, Horohoro turned on his side, away from the uncovered window and kicking his sheets to the end of the bed, some of it leaning over the side. And there it was, the shrill and irking cry of that stupid alarm clock his younger sister had put her money's worth into. Moaning and groaning as if he were about to get up and train, his hand tapped around on the dresser, looking to stop that annoying and extremely loud wakeup call. To his dismay, Pirika had grabbed the demonic object and set the volume louder, putting it even closer to him. "I'M UP, I'M UP!" With anger and impatience, Horohoro grabbed the alarm clock and threw it on the ground, glaring mercilessly down upon it. His looming gaze left the annoyance when he heard his little sister giggle with delight.

"I just wanted to see your reaction, big brother," she said, amused at his reaction to the damned and upsetting material. "Happy Halloween," she had added, trying to sooth her incoherent-for-the-moment older brother.

The boy took a very deep breath, held it in for a second to let his thoughts recuperate, then let it out, just giving his sister half a smile. "Ditto, Sis." Even though his verbal responses really didn't seem to have any mutual meaning, deep in Horohoro's heart he loved his sister with all his might and soul. He would do anything for her, even rid himself of his own life, just to keep her safe.

After finding a few things to dress himself with, he tied the usual headband around his forehead to keep that icy blue hair in a tall spike. Taking a quick glance at himself in the dresser mirror, he puffed out his chest and put a smile on his face. "Well, it's Halloween. I wonder what Yoh's doing. And Ren," he added, pondering the thought of whether he should head down to the Tao apartment to bother this temperamental boy or not. He pressed a finger to his lower lip, still wondering of all the evil things he could do to rile his friend. As more ideas occurred to him, he began to blush greatly. For not only did he take hilarity in vexing Ren, but he also had a deep fetish for messing with his head and sharing those mischievous thoughts of his, to enjoy the rush of excitement from the reaction.

"Hey, Horo!" Horohoro shook of those naughty, naughty ideas to pay attention to his little sister. "Are we going over to Yoh's place when he gets out of school today?" As she spoke, she was struggling to pull her toe socks over her feet, bouncing around the room with one foot, not to mention making thunderous banging noises.

Her brother dashed to her aide, catching her as she slipped so she wouldn't hit the ground, like he had last night. He didn't want any permanent damage done to his little sister. _I went through a lot of agony during our childhood to have her the way she is now,_ he thought to himself, _so I'm not letting anything bad happen to her outer appearance!_ Pulling Pirika to her feet, he chuckled cheerfully and hugged her tightly. "Yeah, we are. But before that, I'm going to stop over at Ren's apartment."

Pirika slanted her head a bit, a probing look shot at him. "What for?" she dared to ask, her knuckles kneading into her hips. The younger Ainu girl took a moment to grasp some of the facts, but purely shook her head, not really wanting to know. "Uh, yeah. That's whatever." Her entire face turned red when her brother laughed nervously, the flush coming back to his facade. "_Horo!_"

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As usual, the monotonousness of Yoh and Manta's classes carried on dreadfully through the morning, Yoh naturally falling asleep during the lessons. Manta's chin was rested in the palm of his hand, his right fingers wrapped around a constantly moving pencil, taking down those oh-so-imperative notes needed for next week's big exam. He was hoping school would get out soon, for he couldn't wait to have a fun Halloween night with all of his friends.

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The sounds of the television were keeping him awake; or so Ren had thought. Stretching himself out across the couch and still in his pajamas, the lids of his eyes never deciding whether they should close or stay open. Soon, a knock at the apartment door startled him into a position of full wake. "Who on _earth_ could that be?" he asked himself, truly tantalized by this unknown and unwanted visit.

_Ok, maybe not unwanted,_ he corrected himself as he slid the door open, seeing Horohoro standing in the doorway with a wave, _ but most unexpected._ Taking in a brief sigh, Ren stepped out of the other's way to allow him access. "Welcome to my humble establishment," he "greeted," a slight twinge of monotone in his voice. His eyebrow twitched as Horohoro walked past him with a goofy smile, throwing himself on the couch. "What do you want?" Ren asked, closing the door behind him then leaning on it with his arms crossed over his chest.

The Ainu boy placed his arms behind his head and gave a small chuckle. "Felt like seeing a friend today," he replied, his eyes wandering around the two-bedroom apartment. "Dude, for an apartment, you've got it made!"

The other boy huffed, a sign of slight annoyance. "Yes, indeed I do. But that's what it's like when you're superior." He added a little scoff within his tone. Although, Ren knew the truthful reason as to why Horohoro suddenly popped up for a visit; he knew that out of the blue the two had developed a close relationship with one another, totally despite the fact that they squabbled so much. Ever since they met, they both had felt an eager attraction towards each other, yet hid that emotion through arguing and just flat-out screaming at one another.

Before he could speak another word, Horohoro grabbed his arm and pulled him down onto the couch with him, giving him a grin. "Superior, yeah right," was his response as he pulled Ren on top of him and laughing as the other boy's face severely flushed.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?!" Of course, Ren's ears grew hot, and his cheeks turned a fiery red. Horohoro's hands clutched the boy's biceps, the warmth of his breath touching his chest. Ren struggled to get free from his grip, but failed miserably when the other wrapped his legs around his waist. "Horohoro!" At this point, his entire face was basically flushed.

The blue-haired Ainu laughed at the other. "You just have to relax, dude! Chill for once and get rid of that bad attitude for a day. You know Yoh's going to want to have fun tonight, what with Trick-or-Treating and all. Lighten up!" This enthusiastic comment was followed by the ruffling of the other's hair. He frowned when Ren ripped himself from his grip, and brushed his body off like something totally disgusting and dirty had just touched him. It was very amusing that his face was still bright red.

Trying to catch his breath, Ren continued to wipe himself off, feeling somewhat violated, but not all too much. It was typical of the Ainu to do such a thing, therefore he should be used to it… right? Then again, Horohoro did many things to make the Chinese boy feel awkward and uncomfortable. "Ahem," he started, trying to wipe off the last imaginary speck of filth from his waist, "I will join you boys for your night of idiocy, but I will not 'lighten up.' There is absolutely nothing to be happy about." His eyes rolled when Horohoro blushed (For he thought the image of Ren crossing his arms and slanting his hip to the side was hot).

Horohoro sighed miserably. "Fine, Ren. You just be that way." After taking a moment to get rid of the feeling of being unwanted, his eyes began to wander around the room, searching for the clock. Finding it, he noted that Yoh only had about a few more hours until school let out. He shrugged, smiling vaguely.

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After six treacherous hours of school time (including note-taking, dealing with morons and bullies, and bad lunches), Yoh, Anna, and Manta ran outside the classroom as the last bell of the day finally went off. Yoh subconsciously grabbed Manta's hand and pulled him along, walking faster than usual. It was clear that Yoh was excited, and he couldn't wait for their night of mischief to begin, especially if it involved masses of candy. Quickening his pace to a run, he skidded to a halt (for he had almost smashed into the waiting Horohoro and Ren). "Uh, hey guys! You're a bit early."

Ren, with his arms crossed, sighed. "I was getting tired of Horohoro torturing me. It's about time your school let out. Come, let's get back to your house and get ready."

**Chapter 2 is now complete. Hey, I'm not going on to Chappie 3 until I get at least 3 reviews, yeah? I hope you enjoyed!**


	3. A Piece Of Candy For Your Soul?

**Chapter 3: A Piece of Candy for Your Soul?**

"Stop with this ridiculousness!" Ren's body moved away from Horohoro's finger, which was an inch or so from him as the other would say "I'm not touching you!" A truly irritating mark from this idiot, he would say to himself.

With that stupid grin of amusement, Horohoro inched his finger closer to him, yet still… "I'm still not touching you, Ren," he said with a sneer on his face.

Ren instantly grabbed the boy's hand and flipped him over, turning back against the table with his arms folded over his chest, fuming. "I swear to God, if you start that again tonight, _I will murder you_!"

Yoh, who was sitting at the opposite end of the table, gave a horrendous laugh as the two mercilessly fought with one another. As the clock finally struck 5 pm, allowing a huge gong to fill the room, a bright smile crossed his face and he leapt to his feet with everlasting excitement. "Come on, you guys, it's almost time to get ready!"

"Huh?" Horohoro had finally stopped poking at Ren's cheek as Yoh took his stand from the other end. He too gained a big smile across his visage and jumped to his feet. "Aw, yeah! Time for some serious candy baggage," he declared, ramming a fist into the other hand.

Ren merely scoffed, but was pulled to a stand by the Ainu boy who was recently standing along side of him. "Get your hands off of me! OW!"

"Come on, Ren. Don't be like that tonight," Yoh said, jamming his elbow into Ren's shoulder. "Let's get into costume, guys!" And with that, Yoh ran down the main hall of the inn, arms raised in the air, screaming excessively, "HALLOWEEN!"

After a few moments of gaping at the brunette who ran down the hall acting like a complete and utter moron, Ren and Horohoro turned their heads as the main door slid open, Manta standing in the way… in his Halloween outfit. A vein popped on his forehead when the two taller boys laughed aloud. "What's so funny!?" he asked feverishly.

Horohoro tried to stop his laughter by placing a hand over his, and Ren's, mouths. Instead he plainly fell to the floor laughing a little harder.

"Ahem," Ren started, trying to halt his laughing as well, "it's because of your, err, 'costume…' You look ridiculous!" With that, Ren busted out laughing once again.

Of course, because of Manta's size, he could only fit one category: a pumpkin, at best. With frilly green leaves jutting to the side, to make things all the more worse. He bowed his head in shame, his facade bright red with anger. "Stop laughing at me…"

At that moment, Yoh came dashing through the room with costume in hand (still rampaging and screaming, naturally). Anna let her foot slide out, and watched as Yoh's body tumbled violently to the floor. "Stop it. You're acing like a child molester in a preschool."

Her words had made Yoh's face flush a cherry red. "Anna, that wasn't necessary…" Gulping down this surprise, he rose again, tying his costume around his waist. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready." After Yoh disappeared behind the corner, he returned and added, "By the way, great costume, Manta!" He gave the shorter one a thumbs-up and walked away.

This left everyone laughing, and Manta of course was fuming with rage. Anna, as usual, was neutral with her arms behind her back, smiling sheepishly.

"We should get ready too," Ren stated to break the laughter. "I call upstairs bathroom!"

"Damnit!" Horohoro replied. "That's the only one that doesn't have a ghost's head popping out of the sink!"

"Really. Such wonderful things like this are of your deserving, Ainu." The Chinese boy passed Horohoro, well aware of the anger he had inflicted upon him.

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After a few minutes, the teens had started piling back into the living room, dressed in their costumes. Manta, plain as day, was still in his little pumpkin suit. Yoh had only thrown on a black pair of cargo pants and a red long-sleeved shirt with horizontal black stripes, a pair of fangs, and a black cape. Horohoro was dressed as his favorite snowboarder from the North, with all black and red lightening bolts down the sides of his sweatpants, snowboard in hand (and for once his spiky hair patted neatly against his head). Everyone cocked an eyebrow at Ren, who wore his old Chinese battle costume from the Shaman Fight in Tokyo, along with his "fuzzy" cape.

"What? This is scary!" He growled as the other four (that includes Anna) shook their heads. "Oh, it is too! I struck fear into the heart of many people when I wore this!"

"Yeah," Yoh replied, "but that was before you turned good." He released a small chuckle.

"Oh, I give up," Ren stated. "But I'm _not_ changing." Everyone agreed to his terms and walked out of the door, leaving Anna behind and watching television along with eating cookies as normal.

The beautiful Tokyo night sky was dotted with all types of stars: big ones, small ones, bright ones, and dull ones. Naturally, children and parents had flooded the neighborhood, walking house to house and begging for candy. Even those witty little songs were adored, like, "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat…" This made Ren smile. It wasn't quite like this back in China.

"Mmm… Where to start first," Yoh asked himself, wringing his hands together menacingly.

"I am NOT going to old man Koubunaki's house," Manta declared, crossing his arms. "That old guy is mean, and besides, he hates kids of all ages. So why would he give out candy, especially when the streets are filled with all sorts of little brats?"

Yoh placed a hand to his chin inquisitively. "Hm. I heard last year some kids TP'ed his house and he had them thrown in jail for it. I guess he just doesn't trust kids, especially teenagers." Not really caring, Yoh shrugged his thought off and ran out into the streets with the other kids.

Fortunately, Ren, Horohoro, Manta, and Yoh were not the only candy-grubbing teenagers out in the roads. Like them, many other young adults still enjoyed the sugar-coated season, obviously. Although, some didn't even bother with the essentials as of a costume. They purely carried empty pillowcases around while aiding their little brother or sister around the neighborhood. Eventually they'd start grabbing candy from unsuspecting children…

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A couple hours had passed, and the four boys already had bags filled with tooth-rotting candy, Yoh with almost three bags full. A few of the houses around the street didn't give out candy, but that didn't matter much. The four boys had wandered off from their respective streets, walking aimlessly around and not really watching where they were going, for they were too busy counting out their candy.

Finding a bench in the walkway to an abandoned park, they all emptied their bags and began trading one another certain candies.

"Hm… I'll trade you this huge tootsie roll for that grape lollipop," Yoh gestured, showing Manta that this tootsie roll was the size of his foot.

"Geh…" Manta tilted his head at the delicacy, wondering how it could be that big. "I've never seen _that_ before," he replied to his friend, chuckling a bit. "But fine, I'll trade you. Just to see what it's all about." He wagged his lollipop in front of Yoh, and watched as this oversized chocolate fell into his hand. It was… twice the length of his tiny hand. What wonders! Rushing as he unwrapped the piece of candy, he stared at it's length. "Wow, it's not a rip-off! It stayed the same length." He placed the piece inside of his mouth and took a bite. "Ouch!" Yet, the candy was too hard for him to chew into. He shrugged, although a little displeased. "Eh, those things are always too hard to bite into. It's a shame they can't make a softer tootsie roll."

Yoh simply shrugged and placed the lollipop into one of his sacks. His eyes began to wander round, taking in the settings of where they had wandered off to. He quirked a brow when he saw Ren and Horohoro off in the distance… standing a little close to each other. "What are they doing?" Standing to his feet, Yoh left his bag of candy at Manta's liberty, absolutely trusting him. As he got closer, he took a dive of surprise to hear the two naturally squawking. "Hey! What did I say about tonight, guys?" Unfortunately, he didn't really hear what they were yelling in the first place. He grew more curious when their faces turned to look at him, both blushing severely.

"It's nothing," Ren mused, a hand covering his cheek to hide the expression played around his face.

"Y-yeah, what Short Pants said." Horohoro, too, was flushed uncontrollably.

The brunette's mind began to ponder all of the possibilities. "GAH!" Instead of wondering any further, he shook his head at any distant thought and placed his hands around his waist. His eyes began observing their surroundings once again. "Hey, where the heck are we?"

The Ainu and Chinese boys' eyes followed Yoh's. They were starting to get the fact that they had completely ran off to someplace new… and extremely strange. All four noticed that it was a playground, yet abandoned. There were no streetlights, and most uncanny, no stars in the sky.

"Whoa," Manta chimed in, "I think we're not in Tokyo anymore!"

"That's not funny anymore, Runt." Ren's fists were clenched. "Yoh, I can't see anywhere around here, it's too dark."

Horohoro wrapped his arms around his shoulders, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable and worried. "Yeah. And I see no way home, either! Dude, how far did we actually go?"

Yoh put his hand above his eyes, peering out. He, too, did not know where they were, and he too could not find the pathway home. "Well, we got lots of candy, and we kept walking away from En Inn. We just started talking, playing pranks on each other, and making jokes. I guess we never really were watching our surroundings. This isn't good!" He felt a wave of shock run down his spine as he heard the rusty squeak of a swing blowing in the nighttime breeze. "Alright. Maybe if we go from where we were walking, we'll find our way out of here." At least he really hoped so.

"Um…" Manta's face filled with horror. "Yoh, I don't remember which way we came from!"

The brunette tapped his fist against the top of his head a few times before staring off into the ice-cold distance. "I'm not finding anything, either you guys. Why don't we just wander North, South, East, and West, and try to spot any occurring roads ahead. Let's split up into two people." His head moved back and forth, up and down. "Manta and I'll take North and South. Ren and Horo, you guys take East and West. If any of us finds anything, or doesn't find anything, meet back in the middle of the park and we'll think of something else if we _don't_ find anything." With that, the four teenaged boys nodded their heads in cooperation and headed away.

First, Horohoro and Ren had moved West of the playground. With hands held high over their brow, they searched, only to stumble into a forest with absolutely no road or street in sight. Sighing heavily, Ren folded his arms and stood for a moment, pondering. "Let's try the opposite way, now, Horo. I'm sure we won't get anywhere from here." The two boys smiled at one another and headed the opposite direction.

"Yoh, I still can't see anything here!" Manta hollered, clinging to the pant leg of the taller brunette. "I think we should turn back and go the other way. It doesn't look like we're getting anywhere." Manta gave his friend a worried look when he heard a heavy, sorrowful sigh. "Yoh… are you ok?"

The other turned his way and gave a cheap smile. "Yeah Manta, I'm fine. I just can't believe this night went from really great to extremely weird, then horribly wrong. This is just out of the strangeness. I mean, what if-"

Manta quirked a brow. "What if what, Yo- WHAT IS THAT?!?"

More than a few feet away, Yoh had spotted a radiant luminosity within the drawn-together trees. "What is that, Manta?"

"I don't know," his friend replied frantically, "and I don't WANT to know! Come on, let's turn around," he said, tugging on the boy's pants to make him turn; he had no luck whatsoever.

"I want to find out what that light is," he said, walking forward and dragging Manta forcefully along with him. "It could be a spirit." Despite the fact that the shorter one was still trying to pull him away, he took careful, baby steps closer to the florescent light. Stopping dead in his tracks, he gawked at the sight.

For there stood a little girl who looked to be about the age of seven, glowing in the darkness which was night. She had abnormally long shimmering silver-blue hair, flaming red eyes, and wearing a very old priestess kimono made of black and red. Her hands seemed to be tight around a sphere shaped object, something like a bounce-ball. Indeed she obtained the florescent glow of a nighttime spirit, shining brightly within the darkness. Yoh's spine twitched when those deadly crimson eyes fell upon his body. He noticed that the rest of her face was gone as she turned to look at him.

"Whoa, that is really creepy," he said, taking a few more steps towards the ominous specter.

"Yoh, what do you think you're doing?!?" Manta hissed in a blunt whisper. "Who knows what that little girl is capable of! _She's freaky-looking!_"

As thought this small poltergeist could make out every word the small one had said, she swiftly turned away and ran the opposite direction from which the boys were standing.

"Manta, she's an evil spirit," Yoh replied, giving a serious look. "Maybe we can save her and spare her from going to hell!" And with those words, Yoh grabbed Manta by the hand and dragged him off with him towards the small ghost.

Yes, it was very possible for Yoh to save this evil soul, for he was a Shaman, bonder between reality and the spiritual world of the dead. (And I am not taking the liberty of telling you what a Shaman is. You must look it up! It would take pages to explain!)

"Ren…" Horohoro started, his body shivering with fright, "we've been walking way longer than it took to get West… YOU GOT US LOST!" The Ainu boy's shriek caused the nightly silence to corrupt, causing mysterious birds to fly from their homes in surprise of the yell. "Oh man, oh man! I can't believe you got us lost, Ren!"

The Chinese boy's hand placed itself over Horohoro's mouth. "Be quiet, I know this! Something very strange his happening here. We followed the same tracks we made from the park. What in all hell is going on?" Instead of stopping to figure it out, he grabbed Horohoro's hand and pulled him forward. "Let's keep going. Perhaps we'll find something this way."

With their hands staying in sync, Horohoro kept a few fingers underneath his lower lip. The sounds of the night horrified him so, and he crept a few inches closer to the other.

"What in the…"

With a flash of light, the two boys had finally stumbled upon something other than a park or a forest of trees. Instead, they had found something more interesting… an empty, run-down theme park. And a huge one, at that. Although, this particular theme park struck an uncomfortable feeling down their spines. Everything had a coat of rust splattered upon it, even the abandoned roller coasters. Small children rides creaked, the ground seeped, and not to mention the lights and flyers were all lit up eerily. Chains clacked in the breeze of the wind, creating unnatural clanking noises as they knocked against the heavy steel of the rides.

Ren also took a mental note that there were creepy clown costumes scattered all over the theme park. "Hm…" Taking a few steps away from the frantic Ainu and towards one of these spine-chilling suits, he bent down low to get a closer look at it. His eyes widened and took a many few steps away from it. Spattered over every inch of the costume were specks of blood and gore, and the suit itself was sitting in a puddle of crimson liquid. He also found that there was a body set inside of it… a nonexistent body, one that had just been recently reaped of it's soul. "What is this supposed to be, a Halloween prank created by the owners of this piece of trash amusement park? I mean, really! This is just vile and disgusting, not scary."

"WAAAAAAAH!" Horohoro had just filed himself into Ren's arms after taking notice of the grotesque phenomenon. "What the hell is that?!?"

Ren absent mindedly dropped the boy to the ground, his eyes moving from place to place. Suddenly he felt a cold finger tap against his neck, and with knowing that Horohoro was laying on the floor, he screeched and jumped, turning around to find… Yoh Asakura with a bewildered look playing across his face. "Don't you EVER do that to me again, Yoh!" he yelled, patting his chest. "Wait a minute. How'd you get here if we took separate paths?"

The brunette quirked an inquisitive brow for a few moments, then resorted to shrugging. "Oh, I don't know. Manta and I were just following this evil ghost around and she led us here." His eyes bulged, and he whipped around, frantically turning from side to side. "Oh no… OH NO! I've lost Manta!"

"Evil ghost, missing Runt. Hm…" Ren rubbed his chin incoherently. "Yoh, something seriously wrong is happening here. Other than that evil spirit and Manta gone missing, I found a," he gulped before continuing, "a dead body inside a clown costume laying in a puddle of blood." He cringed as his eyes met the atrocious sight for the last time.

The brunette did look at the ominous sight, but his face stayed stainless, void of any noticeable emotion. "Something seriously wrong is going on here. Getting lost, evil spirits, loosing Manta, dead bodies, abandoned amusement parks… what does this all mean?"

"And-and weird rusty cages, too. Don't forget the rusty cages," Horohoro added on, pointing fearfully towards the opposite end of the park.

"And what are you babbling on about, fradie-cat?" Yoh chuckled softly, but then his face turned to solid fear as his eyes met the monstrosity Horohoro had pointed out. There it was, in it's grotesque glory, a rusted and gory cage sitting in the middle of the park. Yoh winced as he saw something within it's confinements move.

**Finished with Chapter 3. Hey, give me some feedback, you guys! How am I doing? I hope you're enjoying this!**


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